Supporting Resources

News Update

INVOLVE. Canberra Disability Commitment

There is a new opportunity to get involved in creating an inclusive Canberra. Students, teachers and whole school communities can develop their own inclusion campaign to make a real difference in the lives of people with disability. To find out more, go to www.involvecbr.com.au

“I thought this was a brilliant program. Staff training was great, resources were well organised, planned and ready to use and implemented by our staff.” (Recent testimonial from a local executive teacher)

Everyone Everyday Program overview

The national award winning Everyone Everyday - a Toolkit for Inclusion has been developed by Disability ACT’s Community Development team. It is a comprehensive teaching resource for mainstream primary schools, and focuses on the concept of ‘inclusion’. The program aims to create a cultural shift in community attitudes towards disability. The underlying assumption is that we all benefit when the environments in which we work, live and play are inclusive; and that we all have a role to play in creating inclusive communities.

The program was developed by educators, following extensive consultation with people with disability, family members, advocacy groups, curriculum advisers and academics. It is based on the assumption that ‘inclusion’ needs to be explicitly taught, if we are to move from a situation in which children with disability are simply present in mainstream schools; to one in which they are welcomed, valued and enjoy full membership of the school community.

The Everyone Everyday program targets the Primary School setting and builds on what the school is already doing in the areas of values education and social and emotional learning. The aim of the program is to equip students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to take personal and collective action to enhance the inclusion of people with disability, especially children, in everyday life.

The program is a tangible tool, with easy to follow lessons that support teachers to demonstrate they are working towards:

the goals outlined in their school values,

supporting requirements identified in the Australian Curriculum, and

supporting directives outlined in key government policies and other program frameworks that require schools to provide inclusive environments.

The sequenced lessons are organised into units of work that target four cohorts including Kindergarten , Years 1 and 2 , Years 3 and 4 , and Years 5 and 6. A whole of school approach is recommended to create a culture where inclusion is everyone's business.

The Everyone Everyday Program is the property of ACT Government. While we recommend users of the program register with Disability ACT and sign up for professional development with the Everyone Everyday Project Team, this is not enforceable. If you would like to reproduce the program and implement it at your school without registering for professional development, we request, at the very minimum, that you notify Disability ACT of your intention to deliver the program.

For quality improvement purposes, we will then seek feedback from you and monitor the progress of the program. Contacts from Disability ACT are Maureen Howe, Phone: 02 62059365, email: maureen.howe@act.gov.au and Megan Campbell, Phone 02 62071092, email: megan.campbell@act.gov.au

Teacher Background Information

The Everyone Everyday teaching resource includes Teacher Background Information that describes what teachers need to know before they implement the program. This background information should be read in conjunction with the specific unit information provided with each program, and is complementary to professional learning sessions that can be organised with the Everyone Everyday project team.

It is highly recommended that schools organise professional learning to increase the confidence of teachers to implement the program effectively. To organise complimentary professional learning with the Everyone Everyday project team, email your request to megan.campbell@act.gov.au or maureen.howe@act.gov.au.

To print the lessons in booklet form you will need to select 'Print as a Booklet' in your printer preferences.

Professional Development

Researchers, including Dr Kathy Cologon and Professor Anthony Shaddock have found teachers feel unconfident and unprepared to include children with disabilities in their classrooms, and lack of teacher education and support have been identified as barriers to inclusive education. However “teachers who receive education about inclusion have been found to be more likely to have positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children who experience disability.” (Cologon, K. (2012). Confidence in their own ability. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16(11), 1155-1173)

Additional findings from Stubbs shows that “many objections and perceived barriers disappear when the underlying concepts of inclusive education are thoroughly understood.” (Stubbs, S (2008). Inclusive education: Where there are few resources. Oslo: Atlas Alliance)

In response to this research, and to requests from teachers to prepare them for the implementation of the Everyone Everyday (E/E) Program, the E/E Project Team has developed a Professional Learning package, which can be delivered on request.

The Project Team has delivered training to several schools in the ACT. Of the teachers who have participated in the E/E Professional Learning sessions: 100% said they agreed, or strongly agreed “the information was useful and relevant to their roles”. Further, 96% agreed, or strongly agreed, that “their understanding of explicit teaching of inclusive behaviour has improved”

Professional Learning Update

We are currently updating the professional learning program and will post new dates for 2017.

Testimonials

“The presenters were fantastic! I am more confident in having a student with a disability in my class this year.”

“Your enthusiastic approach to the program overview was inspiring. Great effort!”

“It was thoroughly engaging and so positive. Can’t wait to do the program”

“It was so good, I just wish it was longer!!”

“I thought it was fantastic and very engaging! Can’t wait to teach it (the Everyone Everyday Program)”

Foundation Year

The focus of the Foundation year program is on valuing difference. Students will participate in learning experiences that develop knowledge and understanding in four key theme areas including feelings, similarities and differences, different ways we communicate, and friendship.

Years One and Two

The focus of the years 1 and 2 program is on developing positive attitudes and opinions about disability. The definition of disability is introduced. The focus is on ability, or what a person can do, not what they can not do. This asset based approach to disability is explored through seven key theme areas.

Years Three and Four

The focus of the year 3 and 4 program is on taking personal and collective action to build inclusive communities. Students will look at disability through a positive lens, recognising and celebrating the contributions we can all make to our communities if we focus on ability. Students will participate in learning experiences that develop knowledge and understanding in nine key theme areas.

Years Five and Six

The focus for the year 5 and 6 program is on building inclusive communities. Students will explore the historical perspective of the experience of disability. This will provide a context to inform ideas on what can be done to make a difference for now and into the future. The underlying message for this unit is that we all benefit from living in strong, healthy inclusive communities. Students will participate in learning experiences that develop knowledge and understanding in nine key theme areas.

Research and Evaluation

The development of the program included an extensive literature review, consultation process and evaluation phase. This section includes reports from each of these phases, and testimonials from teachers of the program.

Everyone Everyday Books, now available to purchase.

All proceeds from sales of the books will go towards the ‘Canberra Boundless’ all-abilities playground project.

The two books “Being Me, Being You” and “101 Ways To Include People With Disability” were officially launched by the Minister for Community Services and Education and Training, Joy Burch, at Neville Bonner Primary School on I-Day (International Day of People With Disability), 3 December 2013.

The first book, “Being Me, Being You” was developed for the Everyone Everyday Kindergarten program as a reference to facilitate thinking around valuing difference. The book was written by our Community Development Officer, Maureen Howe, and was illustrated by Caitlin Campbell, who is a year 6 student from Hawker Primary School.

The second book, “101 Ways To Include People With Disability”, captures the ideas of school aged students across the ACT and aims to get people thinking about how we can all make a difference to create happy and healthy inclusive communities. The ideas have come from the Everyone Everyday competition that was held in 2012, and from students involved in the trial of the program in 2013.